Scorched
by Sparingly119
Summary: 2029. Antarctica. A group of scientists set out to find dinosaur fossils. What they find will change the world forever. This is the story of the Scorching. Rated T in case it gets violent at some point.
1. Chapter 1: Begining of the end

**Prologue.**

It was cold.

Of course, it was always cold on the South Pole. Humans weren't supposed to be here. But yet, in all the snow and sleet, there was a man. He was looking for something. Well, two somethings actually. He was making sure there were no polar bears nearby. The other thing he was looking for was why he was in Antarctica in the first place. It would change everything.

He could see the giant glacier he and the others were headed toward in the distance. Night was falling, and they had to set up camp. No polar bears in sight. Only some penguins, waddling along the ice. If he was right, soon, penguins and polar bears wouldn't be the only creatures here. He headed back to camp, thinking about how the whole world would soon change forever.

 **Chapter One.**

Harry dreamed of dragons when he was young. All through his young childhood, he would wander through his small town in Wales, searching for signs of dragons. He could never find anything though. The eggs were bird eggs, the claw marks on a tree were from the neighbor's cat, that thing flying in the sky was a private plane. When he was four, Harry's mom had told him dragons were just fairy tales, myths, stories. Harry had been sad for a while after that, but then came to terms with it.

He lived a normal life after that, went to school, had normal interests of a Welsh kid in the 21st century, and had a boring, everyday life. He never lost his fascination with dragons though. When Harry was in high school, he showed great potential of being a scientist. His science teachers loved his biology projects, he eventually received a scholarship at a famous college. He studied at this college for years, fossils, dinosaurs, and cryogenics. He was eventually recruited by a team of paleontologists. He had gone from that weird kid in his small Welsh town who ran around, screaming about dragon eggs, to Dr. Harry Lexibridge. British scientist. One day, February 2nd, 2029, his life, and everyone else's changed forever.

It started when a Chinese explorer was brought into Harry's office. Lin Zhong. Harry had heard of Lin on the news. She was the only survivor of her explorer team. They had gone to Antarctica to check out a large glacier.

"Miss. Zhong, we are so sorry for your loss, we heard of you on the news." Said Dr. Samantha Giovanni, Harry's work friend. Harry offered Miss. Zhong some tea. "No thank you." She said. "Why are you here?" Sam asked Lin. "It is what my team and I found when we went out there." Miss. Zhong said. "It was… proof." "What do you mean, proof?" Harry asked her. Lin shifted in her chair. "You're going to think I'm either crazy, or lying." "We won't." Sam assured her.

Lin took a deep breath. "We entered a tunnel into the glacier, to escape from polar bears chasing us. It was Matthews who found it. An egg. A dinosaur egg. It survived, frozen in time." Harry gasped. Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs they could unfreeze and study. Harry's hand shook. It wasn't dragons, but it was something close. Everything changes. Soon.

Dr. Lexibridge dissolved into the ice cavern as Sharpclaws sat up. That dream. It seemed so real. Sharpclaws shivered his wings together. Scavengers with strange technology. That had to connect to the tunnel. He lit a stick on fire and used it to light the cavern. The door still looked as immovable as ever, but the first collection of runes seemed to give off a slight red glow. He could read it now. This confirmed his suspicions even more. Neither Sharpclaws' fellow Nightwings, nor the Icewings, whose territory the cavern was in, could know this.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparation & Ch3 Frostbite

**Chapter Two: Preparation.**

September 17th, 2029.

The last few months had been big for Harry. He and his coworkers had been barraged with interviews and preparation for their trip to Antarctica to revive dinosaurs. People wanted to know; "Will the revival of dinosaurs change the world?" "How will you hatch the eggs?" "Will any corporation 'own' these 'dinosaurs?'" Harry and the others answered these questions as best they could. It took them so long because Lin Zhong had to come with them, to point out the glacier. It took quite a bit to convince Miss. Zhong to come with them, as she was not eager to go back to the place all her friends had died.

Harry had tried to ask Lin how they had died, but she never answered that question. Nobody but her knew the truth. Of what lay beyond. She became cold and distant whenever someone mentioned her trip. Harry was worried it would happen again. That whatever killed Lin's team would kill again.

The worst part was Lloyd. Tyler Lloyd was the CEO of Zaloha Enterprises. Harry had received a phone call from Lloyd, saying he wanted to meet Harry. Turns out, Tyler wanted these dinosaurs for himself. He thought dinosaurs could do work ten times as better than a human. Harry turned down his offer. The fossils belonged to the people, not companies.

The day eventually came when Harry, Sam, Lin, and two other coworkers, Greg Lavinski and Alexandria Hetton, departed for Antarctica. Goodbyes were solemn, as many people believed this team would meet the same fate as those who came before. They would never return. Harry was nervous, as he normally was, but at the same time, excited. If they succeeded, the whole world would change forever.

The helicopter ride from London to Antarctica was long and dreary, the scientists playing multiple card games until one by one, everyone began to fall asleep. Everyone except Harry and Sam. Sam was looking out the window, at the small towns of Spain below, chittering with life.

"We may never see anything but snow and ice ever again." Sam said. Harry thought about this as the helicopter passed over a slightly snow-capped mountain. "We'll make it back. We won't end up like Lin's friends." Harry said quietly. He glanced at Lin sleeping quietly. Harry had never noticed how cool her tear drop tattoos next to her eyes looked in the dark. They almost glowed. Sam pushed Harry slightly. "Shut up, don't insult her!" Sam whispered yelled. "I was only saying." Harry replied in a whisper yell too. "Besides, if we do never leave, our ice cream will never melt again." Sam laughed and lay down. "Good night, Harry." "You too, Sam."

And then Harry was alone. So only he saw what Lin did in her sleep. She began shaking and making a strange noise. Harry was about to wake up Sam when Lin began reciting something. It sounded like a poem. Only disturbing. " _Within the ice lies the key, the dreamer will set them free. The world will change for better or worse, in the door of secrets lies a curse…_ " Lin cut off. Harry felt queasy. He knew she was just probably remembering something she read, but something about it felt… real. Harry pondered her words until he fell asleep. Wondering about the door of secrets.

 **Chapter Three: Frostbite. (Two chapters in one document? What is this sorcery?)**

Sharpclaws sat up fast. The door of secrets. This was the right place. Sharpclaws needed to know where the key was though. He needed to get inside the door with runes before anyone else did. If any of the other tribes got their hands on what was in there… It would mean absolute domination of Pyrrhia. Sharpclaws couldn't let that happen. Even his fellow Nightwings couldn't get their hands on The Machine.

Sharpclaws needed supplies. He hadn't taken much with him when he ran away from the Nightwing's island. He had to get off the island fast, especially after that assassin discovered his secret. What was her name, Quickstrike? She would probably tell Princess Greatness after she got back from her latest mission, the one she was taking her son on.

Sharpclaws had to get his supplies though. He had to go into the nearby Icewing Capital. He put on his armband. He felt a wave of cold sweep over him as the armband turned Sharpclaws into an Icewing. He practiced his "better than everyone else" accent. He remembered his fake Icewing name, Frostbite. He left the cavern, piling snow and rocks over the small entrance.

As Sharpclaws walked into town, other Icewings began to stare at him. He wondered why they seemed to look at him as if he had just dragged some rotting prey into their perfectly polished ice village. He looked like any other Icewing, right? He approached an Icewing merchant, who eyed him suspiciously.

"What is your rank?" The merchant asked. "My what?" Sharpclaws asked. "Y'know, what circle are you in?" Sharpclaws panicked in his head. "Um… I'm new." He tried. "I see." The merchant said suspiciously. "I hadn't heard of any new nobles. And with that noble armband there, you must know your rank." _Nobles must wear armbands._ Sharpclaws thought. He had gotten the armband from an Icewing who spotted him going to the cavern. It didn't end well for the Icewing.

"Is that Frostbite?" Sharpclaws heard someone yell. "A crowd of Icewings flew toward him. When they landed, they gaped at him. "You- You're alive!" One exclaimed. "We found your dead body though!" Another shouted. Sharpclaws cursed himself in his head. He remembered the enchantment on the armband. _Make this armband change whoever wears it to look like that Icewing I just killed._

Sharpclaws' cover had been blown already. "I… gotta go." He said quickly, and flew off. "Come back!" Yelled the lead Icewing. They took chase. Sharpclaws turned around to face the fastest one. They couldn't learn of the cavern. He pulled out a vile of flower extract he got from the rainforest, and dipped his talon tips in the fluid. The Icewing lunged at Sharpclaws. She was fast, Sharpclaws had to be quicker.

She swiped at him with her tail. He dodged. It was the perfect opportunity. He clawed her once. The poison seeped into the cut. Her eyes glossed over. "What is your name?" Sharpclaws asked her. "Squall." She replied emotionlessly. "My name is Sharpclaws, and you will do as I say for the next 24 hours. "Yes, Sharpclaws." She said blankly.

"Now go to the other Icewings, and tell them you killed me. That I was a rouge Skywing who had gotten some animus-touched earing to look like an Icewing. Say it with your normal personality, this never happened." "Yes, Sharpclaws." She said again. "Good. Go." He said. She flew off. Now they would think he was dead. He heard a strange noise. A noise… similar. Blades. Helicopter blades. Sharpclaws' world dissolved before him as Dr. Lexibridge came back into view.


	3. Chapter 4: Enter the Cold

**Chapter Four: Enter The Cold.**

It took about a week for the team to reach the British Antarctic Research site. Five long days for Harry to ponder Lin's strange words. Lin hadn't said them since, or noted their existence. Harry had mentioned them to Sam quietly one day, when they had stopped and Lin had gone to the bathroom.

"She's been through a lot." Sam said. "She might do weird things like that. Y'know, trauma and all that." The others were even less helpful. Greg Lavinski and Alexandria Hetton had fallen in love a few weeks ago. They rarely focused on anyone else other than each other. Of course they were excited about the dinosaurs, but Harry thought they mostly went on the expedition to get away from Alexandria's disapproving parents. The last person left then was the chopper pilot, a man named Juan. He hardly cared about the dinosaurs, and seemed to just like driving the helicopter.

When the helicopter finally landed down near the British Antarctic Survey, the whole team was quiet with excitement. Sam was first out, and then immediately first back into the chopper. "Man, am I glad I don't gotta go out into them mountains." Juan said with his thick accent.

"TOO COLD!" She exclaimed. So Lin was first out. She was the most used to this weather. Harry thought she must be calling them all babies in her head. She had gone here, seen everyone she was with get slaughtered by… something, and survived alone for a week, and she was the bravest of them all.

Hours later, the team was off on their two all-terrain vehicles, equipped with everything they might need in case of a multitude of things. After the government supplied them with all their stuff, Lin handed out bottles of water with blood-red food dye in it. She didn't say anything about it except for "In case it happens again." Harry had become more and more frightened by Lin after her episode that night. Worried she may go crazy, or start yelling poems about the apocalypse again.

Lin gave them directions as the daylight left them. The correct glacier was quite far from the British Antarctic Survey. Night finally came, and the researchers began searching for the correct space to put a camp for the night.

The vehicles stopped at a good space, located under a rock hangover. Lin had begun shaking and muttering the closer they got to the glacier. Sam looked at the potential camp. "It's got good shelter and visibility." Sam noted. "Harry, please go check for polar bears or any other dangers." Harry nodded.

Harry was walking back from looking out for dangers when he heard a strange noise. He stopped and looked around, waiting for the noise to happen again. It didn't sound again. Harry dismissed it as a penguin or something when it happened again, this time obviously coming from a rock pile to Harry's left.

Harry crept up to the rock pile. Shaking with fear. If there was some wild animal in there, big enough to do damage… He could almost see the red-stained snow. Harry mustered up the courage and peeked through a crack in the rocks.

The first thing he saw were the lanterns. Shining bright within a cave in the rocks Harry could not see before. The next thing he noticed were the guns. They were arranged in a line, with bullets close by. He wondered why this was here when he noticed the first man. He was dressed in classic Arctic exploration gear, but with a symbol printed on the back of his jacket. That familiar shape, a cross with a circle around it, with small inscriptions of a hawk and a lynx on either side of the cross. Zaloha was here.

Harry panicked inside his head. How had Tyler Lloyd followed them here? Why was he here? _For the dinosaurs, idiot._ He thought with a jolt. Lloyd had wanted the dinosaurs as his slaves, so that he and his fellow Zaloha executives may be that much richer. He listened as the people below spoke.

"We are wasting our time here, sir." One man said. "No we aren't." Replied the smooth voice of Tyler. Our man here heard what they had been saying. He's convinced now they're real too. A man stepped into the light. It was Juan. The chopper pilot. "They are weak." Juan said with no accent now. They will either hand over the eggs nicely, and we will leave them stranded here forever or," Juan nudged the guns with his foot. "We paint the snow red." Harry felt his heart try to jump out of his throat and catch a bus to Nope-ville. Lloyd and his men were going to take the eggs, and either leave Harry and his team here to starve, or shoot them to pieces. Suddenly, Harry wondered if Lloyd had taken lives here before.

It all clicked into place. How had Juan known exactly where to land the chopper? How had Lloyd known where to go all along? Why did Zaloha have so many guns here with them?

Harry had to reach Lin and ask her, before it was too late.


	4. Chapter 5: The Glacier

**Chapter 5: The Glacier.**

Harry ran as fast as he could. He had to warn the others. The ice did not help. Harry kept slipping and falling over, Penguins waddling out of his way. The cold wind whipped his face, small shards of ice hurting him as they sailed through the wind. As Harry rounded a corner he saw it. The two vehicles and the fire Sam had started to build. There was Greg, walking toward Harry. Harry was about to call out to them when he heard a cracking noise.

He looked down sharply at the ice in front of him. Large cracks had spread across it. Weaving a deadly spider web across the ice. He was standing on a frozen lake. "Don't move." Greg said sternly. The ice was on the snapping point. One more step and Harry would be over his head in deathly cold water.

Harry looked around for the most solid piece of ice he could see. "How about there?" Harry asked Greg. Greg examined the piece of ice. "Try it." Greg said. Harry nervously stepped on the ice. It began to crack a little, but remained stable. Now it was only a short walk to the shore. Harry took another tentative step. He was good.

Suddenly, Harry heard a small noise. He looked to his right. A penguin was waddling up to the ice. Its eyes fixed on a small hole in the ice. "No!" Harry yelled at the penguin. It kept waddling up to the hole, fixed on trying to get a fish. "Shoo!" Greg yelled at the black and white bird. No reaction.

It stepped on the ice. The last of the ice fell into the water, Harry along with it.

Sharp ice scraped against Harry's eyes. Harry howled with pain. Then came the cold. Harry became numb almost immediately. He tried to open his eyes, but the ice had cut across them, rendering them useless for the time being. Harry tried to swim. He had absolutely no idea where the hole he'd fallen down was. _I'm going to die._ Harry thought. _And the others will die too because I can't warn them about Lloyd._ Harry attempted to open his eyes again. No use. His lungs ached for air, but Harry couldn't find air.

Harry stopped struggling and resigned himself to the cold. To death. _Sorry guys._ He thought. He let his body go slack. He began rising. His head surfaced above water. Not for long, but long enough for him to take a breath. Harry began paddling towards… anything really. His hands met the ice-cold shore and Harry pulled himself out. He still couldn't open his eyes. He collapsed on the ice cold ground, gasping for air. He was about to stand when something kicked him hard in the head. Harry blacked out.

 _ **I'm waiting for you Sharpclaws. Waiting a long time.**_

"Get up, you uptight scientist." Harry opened his eyes to see an unfriendly face glare down at him. It was one of the men with Lloyd. Harry's eyes seemed to have recovered enough to see. Still a little impaired, but good enough to see that everyone on the team had guns pointed at them. Harry put up his hands in surrender. The guard who had woken him up pointed a gun at Harry's throat. Tyler Lloyd and Juan walked into view.

Sam began to yell at the two of them. "Who are you? What do you want?" "I just want a bigger paycheck." Said Juan with a shrug. "Not you." Sam said, her voice dripping with malice. "I'm just acting accordingly to nature." Lloyd said. "What? The nature of being a scumbag thief?" Sam retorted. "Human nature." Lloyd said, unfazed by Sam's insult. "It is the human way to rule over others. To have others under your command. To be on top. It's what we all desire, deep down. And when people deny you your success, your life's purpose, it is also human nature to take their life. The thrill of seeing someone succumb to your thoughts and whims reveals the true meaning of life. To control."

"You're insane!" Greg exclaimed. Lloyd just chuckled. "Once I enslave the dinosaurs, I'll be the most powerful company in the world. My workforce will be greater than any other company. I will be the richest man in the world. Then, I could start influencing the government. Soon, the whole country will be mine. You want to stop me, don't you?" Lloyd studying the team's faces. "Is it possible you want what I will have? The power of hundreds, thousands, millions of people under my control?"

"No." Sam said quietly. "I want REVENGE!" Sam broke free of her captor's grasp and ran at Lloyd, brandishing her pick. Lloyd, quick as lightning, pulled out a concealed gun and with a click and a bang, Sam fell to the ground, bleeding all over the white snow.

"SAM!" Harry screamed. She couldn't be dead, though the red seeping through the snow and ice seemed to suggest otherwise. "Don't worry, though I don't know why you would." Lloyd said to Harry. "She is just one more person who wants what we all want. With her gone, your goal would be that much easier to reach. But I shot her in the knee. I need you people's expertise so I can get the dinosaurs." Sam's Zaloha captor picked up Sam and slung her over his shoulder. "Now, come with us. You don't have a choice." Lloyd said to the others.

When they reached the glacier, Sam had woken up. Or, Lloyd forced her to awaken. Her kneecap had a nasty looking gash where Tyler's bullet had hit her. She glared at Tyler, but didn't speak out or try to attack him again. Sam being quiet was strange, for she was normally talking a lot.

Lin had been solemn and quiet the whole time, but now she looked at the towering glacier with a look of determination. Alexandria and Greg were looking angry and scared. But Harry had his mind off the gun pointed at him. The glacier… It seemed to be speaking to him. Its whispers barely audible but yet the loudest thing in the world. Lin seemed to notice this too. Lin was staring at the glacier, putting her hand on its icy walls, as if… communicating with it. Sam, Greg, Alexandria and their captors didn't seem to notice it.

"Right! In we go!" Lloyd commanded. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to get cold today." Juan mumbled behind Lloyd. The Zaloha guards shoved the scientists into the cavern.

The cavern gave off vibes of darkness and cold. Lloyd holding the lantern, the small group of scientists and Zaloha agents explored the ancient ice sculptures of nature. Icicles loomed over them like teeth, the tunnel a throat that was swallowing them whole. It was both beautiful, and terrifying at the same time. This time capsule of a time long ago. Hardly touched by humans. The whispers seemed to get louder and louder, until both Harry and Lin were covering their ears. Lin more than Harry.

Harry snapped out of it when Lloyd stopped. "This is it!" He said gleefully. "Beyond this tunnel lies a large cavern, where I will surely find the dinosaurs. This is my triumphing moment." It really seemed like Lloyd was going to win. The dinosaurs would be his, not free creatures. He really would be unstoppable. "You… m-monster." Sam sputtered out. Lloyd turned and took out his gun. "You have been nothing but an annoyance to me since we met! You only want them for yourself! This is what happens to those who try to stop me reaching humanity's purpose!" He spat. He loaded his gun and prepared to shoot Sam in the chest. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a creature appeared. It bit Lloyd's arm and he dropped the pistol. The creature snarled and spread its wings. A large chunk of ice fell from the ceiling, crushing Tyler Lloyd.

Lloyd's maniacal rant had stopped. His gun slid across the icy ground as the creature who had killed him spread its wings again, and the dragon fully came into view.


	5. Chapter Six: Killer of the South Pole

**Chapter Six: Killer of the South Pole.**

Harry stared at the dragon _. No, not dragon. Dinosaur._ Harry told himself. But the wings and horns, talons and tail, seemed to suggest otherwise. Suddenly, Harry's Zaloha guard screamed as his gun whirled around in his hand, and shot him in the head.

Alexandria screamed as an icicle fell off the ceiling and made a beeline straight for her guard's heart, as if it was possessed. The guard shot at the icicle and it shattered into a thousand icy pieces. The dragon looked… frustrated by this. Suddenly, ten sharp icicles dislodged from the ceiling and all went straight for Alexandria's guard. He tried to run away but the icicles followed him like a heat-seeking missile. The guard did not last long.

Harry ran over to Sam, who was lying there with a look of terror on her face. "Look!" She managed out. Harry looked to where she was looking. Lin had covered herself in the red-dyed water and was lying limp on the ice. She looked very dead. _This_ is what had killed her team. It was going to kill this team too.

The Zaloha guards did not understand that this thing clearly had magical power. Or they did and still thought shooting it would be good. All their bullets seemed to just dodge out of the way of the dragon as it went on controlling objects, killing Lin's and Sam's guards with ease.

Harry picked up Sam and ran as fast as he could into the larger cavern. He set Sam down and uncapped her vial of fake blood. She looked dead enough already with her injuries from Lloyd. He covered her in ice pieces to make it look like she was killed by an enchanted icicle. Harry did the same for himself.

He had no idea what was happening back there. He could hear the roaring of the dragon. The sound of guns peppering the air. Juan yelling. Ice cracking. Suddenly, the yelling and screaming stopped, except for Juan yelling all kinds of profanity at the beast. Then, that stopped too.

Harry could hear the eerie silence as the whispers came back. This time, the whispers seemed to really be talking to him, like a chorus of snakes hissing curses. Suddenly, one whisper dissolved into a thought, a scene.

Harry saw the beast standing over himself and Sam. This couldn't be real, because he couldn't feel its heat. No, this was to happen, not happening now, but soon.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. This was it. The end. The people would keep sending teams here, to find out what happened to all the others. They would all meet the same fate. The only question was _how?_ How could this dinosaur have magical powers? Was it real, or an illusion? Would this beast destroy the world?

Harry felt a warmth near him. The beast had found him. It sniffed Harry. Harry felt like he was going to cry when he felt its talons on his arm. It was going to pick him up and eat him. Harry opened his eyes and everything got even worse when he saw three bodies at the cavern entrance. The last Zaloha guard, and there were Greg and Alexandria. Greg was impaled on a large icicle while Alexandria had gunshots in her chest and head.

They were dead. So was everyone else here.

Harry was about to feel the cold embrace of death when a sound rocked him. A gunshot. The dragon dropped Harry. Harry fell to the ground as many large icicles fell from the ceiling and collapsed on the dragon. With a roar, the dragon fell through the ice and into the freezing water. It was gone.

Harry looked up and saw Lin holding a gun. She had survived again. "The visions never fail me." She said to Harry. "I looked into all the possible futures and saw shooting right there would kill it easiest." "How did you-"Harry began. "Know what you were thinking?" Lin finished. "Easy. I have the power."

 _ **I know what you are looking for, Sharpclaws.**_

Juan was nowhere to be found. Seeing Greg and Alexandria dead next to each other, as if they had ran towards each other to hug and died before they got there, ripped out the survivor's hearts. Lin and Harry had tended to Sam's wound as best they could, she walked with a limp. Nobody could come up with what happened to Juan, except for eaten.

When they were done mourning the loss of their friends, Harry had so many questions for Lin. She answered them with her story.

"I grew up in Hong Kong, China." She began. "Though I was not born there. I was born on a mountain in the middle of the night. My parents were trying to escape people who wanted my father for their own. See, my family has a curse, though some may call it a blessing. Once upon a time, my ancestors had a child right here." Lin gestured to the large cavern.

"I have no idea what they were doing here, but their child was born under moon rays. They say she was born with teardrop-shaped birthmarks on the sides of her eyes." Lin gestured to her own teardrops, which were not tattoos, but birthmarks everyone mistook for tattoos. "Anyway, this child, Yuèliàng, she could read minds, and see the future."

"That's impossible!" Sam exclaimed. "Things like that aren't scientifically possible!" "Hey, it's not like _I've_ got the answers to it!" Lin cried. "Why it happened? I have no idea!" Harry felt Lin was lying, and she knew how her family had gotten this power, but he kept quiet.

"Anyway, the trait in my family has been passed on since Yueliang was born here. All of us born at night when the moon is full and shining on our face, have these powers. And I can tell right now that Harry doesn't know what to think, and Sam doesn't believe me." "How could I?!" Sam argued. "This story is missing so much information, and-""There are futures where you never believe me." Lin interrupted Sam. "But you play a large role in things to come. You must believe me, or all is lost."

"You're just as crazy as Lloyd was! Certain things just aren't possible. Like sorcery and magic and elves and goblins." "Magic exists." Lin said calmly. "Did you not see the way the dragon enchanted icicles to impale people, and guns to shoot people? How the bullets seemed to run away?" Sam's eyes widened. "Oh, god, she's right Harry."

Harry got up and walked to the far end of the cavern and put his hand on its icy walls. There it was. Frozen in time. An egg. Lin and Sam walked over to Harry and gaped at it. "There it is. The whole reason we came here." Sam whispered. Harry wondered if this was just as bad as death by Lloyd or the dragon. Had they survived all this way, just to unleash terrible monsters upon Earth? Was this the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end?

 _ **Sharpclaws, wake up. Wake up and feel the real world, and not just the past I have shown you.**_


	6. Chapter 7: The Dragon Behind the Dreams

**Chapter 7: The Dragon Behind the Dreams.**

Sharpclaws got up groggily. The snow he had been lying on hadn't numbed his back because he was still an Icewing. Squall had done her part well. The other Icewings weren't chasing him anymore. Sharpclaws had never thought he would ever enter the Ice Kingdom not attacking it. Sharpclaws hadn't always been as he was now. He used to be a normal Nightwing, until the disappearance of his best friend.

When Sharpclaws was about two years old, he met a dragonet named Stonemover in his classes. He and Stonemover became friends because they both had secrets. They were both animuses. As the years went on nobody thought anything of the two. They had learned all the normal Nightwing skills; how to fake a prophecy, how to pretend to read minds, how to keep secrets, you know, all the normal stuff. But Sharpclaws had a strange interest in the Scorching.

The older Nightwings thought it was just a little weird thing he did, and put him with the other weird Nightwing, the new scientist Mastermind. Sharpclaws helped Mastermind work on the plan to take the Rainforest, but all the talk about the mainland made Sharpclaws' interest in the Scavengers even more intense. He conducted observations on the Scavengers while everybody was asleep. This entire time he kept his animus powers a secret, never using them once. Except for one time. Sharpclaws enchanted a Scavenger to be able to talk in the language of dragons.

It was incredible. They were just as intelligent as dragons. Sharpclaws began spending more and more time cooped up in a closet, talking to the Scavenger. He learned their cultural importance of wearing the furs, he learned about this Scavenger's partner, a female named Rose, who had disappeared when the War began. Outside of his conversations with the Scavenger, whose name was William, he acted strangely to the other dragons. Because of this, Mastermind and Princess Greatness removed his position as Lab Assistant, and replaced him with a thick-headed dragonet named Strongwings.

One horrible day, a dragon named Farsight, who had made friends with Sharpclaws and Stonemover, convinced Stonemover to reveal his animus powers to Queen Battlewinner. Stonemover did, trying to impress Farsight, for Stonemover liked her. Instead of that, this horrible dragon named Morrowseer took Stonemover away. Probably to execute him. A large percentage of the tribe wanted no animuses because of the Legend of Darkstalker. Stonemover was never seen again.

Sharpclaws became depressed. He felt he could have prevented his best friend's death if he was less involved with William. Sharpclaws began to dislike the other Nightwings. One night, in the closet, the assassin Quickstrike discovered Sharpclaws talking to William. She interrogated Sharpclaws until he was forced to admit his powers. Quickstrike said after she and her son killed a Seawing commander, she would tell Morrowseer.

Sharpclaws picked up William and left the island. He could never go back. He had to hide, because as soon as Quickstrike came back from assassinating Commander Tempest, she would tell them all. The Nightwings would stop at nothing to find him. He gave William back to the other Scavengers. Sharpclaws used his magic to hide himself. For a while, he was Carob the Mudwing. A group of sibs who had lost some took him in for a while. Another time he was Venus of the Rainwings. He pretended to be just as stupid as the rest. That had taken some acting.

Now, his research on the Scorching and Scavengers had taken him to the Ice Kingdom. Now he was Frostbite the Icewing, but that might have to change. What he was doing in the Ice Kingdom was a very top secret subject. Sharpclaws had studied all that the dragons knew about the Scorching, and in his studies he found out about The Machine. It was a fairy tale Icewings told young animus dragonets to explain where they got their powers. "They weren't weird, they had just been 'chosen'." Over the years, dragons had dismissed it as a fairy tale. But Sharpclaws had heard of the strange lights coming from a certain glacier in the Ice Kingdom. This glacier had some sort of connection to animus powers, and the truth about The Scorching. When Sharpclaws reached the glacier, he found a door, buried in the ice. It had runes etched into the rock.

Whenever he slept after discovering the door, he had vivid dreams about the life of a Scavenger who lived more than 5000 years ago. These dreams had already provided him with information like no other, but now Dr. Harry Lexibridge had discovered and fought the first dragon. This was much bigger than a fairy tale. This was the past, present and future. Sharpclaws was going to find out what made the Scavengers **scorched.**


End file.
